Post navigation

Bulletin Board v150

550 sexual abuse claims filed against Milwaukee Archdiocese — About 550 people are asking for restitution for alleged sexual abuse by clergy in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee — more than in any of the other U.S. dioceses that have filed for bankruptcy protection, according to a lawyer involved in the Milwaukee case. The Milwaukee Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection last year, saying pending sex-abuse lawsuits could leave it with debts it couldn’t afford.

Award-winning teacher fired after ‘inappropriate relations’ with students — An award-winning Ottawa high school teacher accused of having an “intimate sexual relationship” with two male students and kissing a third on the lips has been stripped of her teaching permit and fired by the city’s public school board. Joanne Leger-Legault pleaded no contest to the allegations of professional misconduct filed against her and did not dispute the facts presented to the Ontario College of Teachers discipline committee when it heard the case last year.

Ex-foster parent in Republic accused in child sex abuse case — A former foster parent from Republic has been accused of sexually abusing two foster children and videotaping the incidents. A warrant for Mark Daniel Obrien, 40, who had been a foster parent for a decade to numerous children, was issued Tuesday. Online jail records did not show him in custody late Tuesday. Obrien is accused of molesting two different boys while they were entrusted in his care at different times over a number of years. Both boys separately disclosed the alleged abuse after leaving his care, court documents show.

Former Syracuse ball boy says in affidavit that Fine’s wife had sex with players — An affidavit filed in a slander suit against Syracuse University and basketball coach Jim Boeheim says the wife of fired assistant Bernie Fine had sex with players, and several people associated with the program knew about it, including Fine. In the affidavit, Bobby Davis, a former ball boy with the men’s team, says he was present on several occasions with basketball players when he heard them speaking of having sex with Laurie Fine. Davis said players joked about it and it seemed to be an openly known fact that Laurie Fine had sex with basketball players. A lawyer for Laurie Fine said the accusations were “disgusting.”

Judge: Abused boy looks like concentration camp victim — Joseph Lee studied a color snapshot of his 9-year-old nephew Monday as a Miami child-welfare judge glanced at Lee. The judge was looking for signs that Lee was as disturbed by the photo as she was. But Lee simply stared at the picture. “I’m looking for words,” Lee said. “I was not aware of any of this.” The photo, which was not released publicly, depicted a little boy who had become so emaciated that his bones protruded from his skin, and his eyes bulged from their sockets, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman said. She likened him to a concentration camp survivor.

Laurie Ann Martinez Pleads No Contest To Rape Hoax — A former California prison psychologist accused of staging a home invasion and sexual assault pleaded no contest to a felony conspiracy charge. Prosecutors say Laurie Ann Martinez, 36, of Sacramento committed the elaborate hoax to convince her husband that they need to move to a better neighborhood. In Sacramento County Superior Court on Wednesday, Martinez was sentenced to five years of probation and 180 days of electronic monitoring. She was also ordered to pay more than $4,000 in restitution for the police investigation.

Libya prisoners make new torture allegations — The BBC has been told by inmates at a jail in Misrata that they were beaten, whipped and given electric shocks. The head of the city’s military council has dismissed the allegations. United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay has called on Libya’s transitional government to take full control of all prisons. The allegations come exactly 100 days after Col Gaddafi’s violent death at the hands of former rebels. Earlier this week the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said it was suspending its work in one Misrata detention centre because of an alarming rise in torture cases.

Man charged with sex abuse after 14-year-old boy responds to Craigslist — A man who prosecutors say is a U.S. Army nurse was charged with sexual abuse of a minor after a 14-year-old responded to his Craigslist advertisement seeking sex with another man, prosecutors said. Police began investigating Tom Lusuli Malenya, of Silver Spring, late last month after the boy’s mother discovered text message exchanges between the ninth-grader and the 41-year-old man, according to charging documents filed in federal court in the District of Columbia. While looking through her son’s cell phone, she noticed text messages to “Frank” in which the son said he could not talk for a couple of days because of a death in the family.

Police: Mother beat son — A Lititz mother will stand trial on charges that she repeatedly beat her pre-teenage son over the past year. Karen Jenkins, 39, is charged with simple assault and reckless endangerment regarding the abuse of her 8-year-old son. Police launched an investigation in November when the boy was brought to a hospital with severe burns — from boiling water — over “11 to 12 percent of his body,” according to an affidavit. Upon further investigation, the boy revealed that his mother also had been beating him with a belt for the past year, the affidavit says.

Sex abuse ‘widespread’ in Catholic Church, Philadelphia judge says — The judge in the trial of two Catholic priests and a former priest declared her belief Tuesday that sexual abuse was “widespread” in the Catholic Church. Reviewing a list of questions to be asked of potential jurors, Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina arrived at one that read “Do you believe child sex abuse is a widespread problem in the Catholic Church?” and hesitated. “Anybody that doesn’t think there is widespread sexual abuse within the Catholic Church is living on another planet,” she said, recommending the question be stricken from the list. Jeffrey Lindy, part of a team of lawyers hired by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to represent one of the defendants, Msgr. William J. Lynn, responded: “I’m taken aback by that conclusion, frankly.”

Woman accused of rape allegedly “groomed” young boys — The Rapid City woman accused of having an illicit relationship with a 14-year-old boy allegedly tattooed and groomed other boys, according to the Pennington County State’s Attorney’s office.
April Solles, 28, pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual contact with a child under 16 and three counts of fourth-degree rape involving the same victim at her arraignment Monday morning.
If convicted, of the charges she is facing, Solles could face a maximum penalty of 75 years in prison and $150,000 in fines.

Woman charged with raping 14-year-old boy — A Lauderdale County woman is in jail, accused of having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old Wilson High School boy. Dana Myhan Allen, 38, 120 Southland Drive, Florence, was arrested Tuesday afternoon and charged with second-degree rape, Lauderdale County Sheriff Ronnie Willis said. The reported rape took place off campus, he said. Lauderdale County Chief Investigator Travis Clemmons said deputies have been looking into the allegations for more than a week.